Stargate Atlantis: The Seer (Part 1)
Star TrekStargate:AtlantisFireflyBy Wolfen Moondaughter
I rather enjoyed this episode — not as much as “Adrift”, “Reunion”, “Doppelganger”, or “Tabula Rasa”, but on par with “Lifeline”, and more than “Travelers” or “Missing”. Interesting that they would have another episode written by the same author — Alan McCullough, who wrote “Tabula Rasa” — so close together with his prior story.
I generally avoid stories that deal actively with time travel (there’s virtually no way to do a time travel story without a paradox, and that makes my brain itch) or diverging timelines; thankfully, this episode takes a passive approach to the discussion of time. I always found the notion of diverging timelines depressing — it means that no matter what choice you make, there will always be a version of you that made the opposite choice. So if you’ve always made all choices, then what difference does it make what you choose? That’s as depressing to me as saying that we have no choice at all, that everything is predestined! But instead of either of those routes — diverging timeline or destiny — this episode finds an interesting middle ground, suggesting that there’s only one path but it’s the one you always would have chosen. In fact, that notion also offers up a way around time paradox — it suggests that you were always going to go back and do the fiddling that you did, even if you end up doing it multiple times. It also suggests that time is sort of linear after all — the yarn of life just loops back a few times.
So going by that thought process, instead of the timelines diverging from the moment of each choice, if anything there’s just alternate realities where your doppelganger made a different choice, like in SGA’s “McKay and Mrs Miller”, SG-1’s “There But For The Grace of God”, “Point of View”, “Ripple Effect”, “The Road Not Taken”; and the upcoming movie, Continuum. It’s not you making the choices, but a twin. Okay, so the notion of alternate realities bugs me almost as much as diverging timelines, especially when you get into talk of entangled particles, but they don’t really get into that concept in this episode anyway — they don’t even talk about “Mirror World”-style evil twins.
Now, while I don’t really like time travel or alternate reality stories (I only love Doctor Who because of the characters, not the plots), I do love philosophical discussions on the nature of time/dimensions/reality, the science vs religious aspects of psychic ability, morality, and free will — and this ep touched on all of that, in one way or another. (If you enjoy that sort of thing as much as I do, then you may want to check out the film Mindwalk.)
4.8: “The Seer”
The story opens with Teyla telling Sam, Ronon, John, Rodney, and Keller about the Vedeeans, a mostly solitary people that she has never personally had contact with. They are said to have a Seer named Davos (I immediately think of Davros from Doctor Who) who they say can even glimpse the future. (I wonder at the wording of those for a moment, before it occurs to me that a Seer could also see things as they happen — in the present, that is, not just the future — hence her distinction.)
McKay makes noises of skepticism (which surprises me — he had powers of Ascended Ancients, telepathy and telekinesis, so he knows mental powers are real). Then he starts talking about how that idea would work in a Newtonian universe (singular and linear timeline), because if you knew enough of the variables you could make predictions, but “quantum physics blows that out of the water.” (I realise then that he’s not skeptical of mental powers in general, only of precognition. Still, if one assumes that time is not actually linear — a theory which his precious quantum physics supports — then isn’t it reasonable to think a person could literally see the future? Especially if that person could read the minds of people in another part of the time? Rodney’s already established that mind-reading is possible …. Okay, okay, shutting up now.)
Teyla admits that even among her own people, there are skeptics, but she wants to find out for herself. Through the course of the conversation, we learn that McKay’s forensics team hasn’t located any clues as to what happened to the Athosians (and poor McKay feels bad about that), and neither has Intel; Teyla wants to see if Davos can tell her anything.
On their way to the ‘Gateroom, Rodney tells John that he “predicts” this will be a complete waste of time; John says he knew Rodney was going to say that. (It’s an amusing little bonding moment, the kind of thing that makes a story live and breath.) John warns his team that the people they’re about to see sound skittish and may not take too kindly to them dropping in armed like they are. When they get to the planet, though, there’s a group waiting for them. The Vedeean welcoming committee knows they are from Atlantis, saying they have been expecting them. John asks Teyla if she’d told them they were coming, and she reiterates that she has had no contact with these people before. (So here’s evidence already that their Seer can do more than just make a really good guess, as it’s doubtful that Teyla mentioned to anyone outside of Atlantis that they were thinking of making the trip, much less saying when.) A young woman introduces herself as Linara; John introduces himself in turn. She says they know, they know all of them, repeating that they had been expecting them — for some time, in fact. (Oh. Well, if you’ve been standing there in shifts or something, maybe Teyla did mention to someone offworld that they were thinking of paying a visit to you ….)
Back in Atlantis, Woolsey arrives via the Intergalactic Bridge to give Sam her 3-month evaluation. He laments that he had a quarantine delay at the Midway Station, but admits that it’s better than a 3-week ride on the Daedalus at least. (Hey, does the Daedalus still do supply runs? I’d hate to think we’ll never see Mitch Pileggi — er, Steven Caldwell on the show again!) Sam points out that those protocols were put in place by the IOA, and he says that that was due to the recent contagions in Atlantis. (He’s talking about what happened in “Tabula Rasa”, if you missed that ep. Never satisfied, this man; what, does he think they got sick just to inconvenience him? Oh, of course, he’ll complain about something until it can be attributed somehow to himself or something he’s involved with, and then of course he’s got to put a positive spin on it.) He points out that Midway is the “only buffer between Pegasus and the Milky Way.” (Actually, I would think every gate in between would be a buffer, but I guess they only have a station set up at Midway. Really, I would set up a station at every ‘Gate, but I guess that’s just me. Anyway, Woolsey does make a good point, though; the quarantine is a sensible, even necessary way to keep illnesses from reaching Earth. Or vice versa — hence his need to be quarantined on the way! …. Not to change the subject, but I think I will never be able to hear about the Midway Station without thinking of Chicago’s Midway Airport. Well, I suppose that’s not exactly an inappropriate comparison, either. But why is Midway out in space instead of on a planet, I wonder? …)
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As Woolsey and Sam walk, we see Christopher Heyerdahl’s name on the credits. (And I’m puzzled when I see that. I’d noted his name the day prior, when I saw the man playing Zor-El on Smallville, and had asked my mother “Is that Halling?!” Of course she didn’t remember who Halling, the long-haired Athosian man who was Teyla’s second-in-command, even was. So I looked up the name of the actor playing Zor-El on The Internet Movie Database and then who played Halling to see if I was right, and I was. So why are we seeing it here, I’m wondering, when the Athosians are gone? I make a guess that Davos will have a vision of Halling when telling Teyla about the fate of the Athosians. Little do I realise … but I’ll get to the explanation soon enough!)
Woolsey assures Sam that he’s only there as an observer; apparently the IOA has decided that bureaucratic interference isn’t as helpful as they would like to think! (*Gasp* Really??) He adds that his own evaluation suggested he can be something of a busybody. (Heh, that’s not the term I would use, but okay. Actually, judging by her reactions to him, it’s not the term Sam would use either. Given the history between them and SG-1, and her and Woolsey in particular, I don’t blame her one bit.)
There’s an unscheduled offworld activation. ‘Gate Technician Chuck tells Sam (and Woolsey) that one of their teams is reporting from a planet they were aiding after a culling. Apparently another hive ship came a few days later, harming no one, only asking that a request for a rendezvous be delivered to Colonel Sheppard. (Three guesses as to who wants the rendezvous — and the first two don’t count. Unless, of course, you didn’t see the episode “Common Ground”, where a Wraith and Sheppard helped each other escape Kolya and his band of rogue Genii.)
Linara reveals that Davos is ill and that her people were hoping Atlantis could help. Teyla says he must mean a great deal to her. (I instantly think “Sure, he’s her dad.”) Linara tells of how one of his visions saved them from a Wraith culling. The Vadeeans hid in a mountain; the Wraith thought their world empty and soon left. (I guess the caves shielded the Vedeeans from life-sigh detectors?) Linara also reveals that Davos is her father. (I’m a Seer! *Wink* And let me just say that I love Linara’s dress!)
They go inside a tent; the elderly Davos makes them welcome. He says one of them has doubts, looking to McKay. John frowns at him. (Actually, I’m surprised John doesn’t have some doubts too — not because he would believe it’s impossible, but because I find it’s human nature to be doubtful when someone tells you they have extraordinary abilities, at least until you actually witness the ability in use. Especially when so often the person in question turns out to be a charlatan.) Rodney rolls his eyes, saying that anyone with skill at reading body language could tell that. (I guess that doesn’t include you then, ‘ey, Rodney? Or should I call you Mr Oblivious? *Grin*) Davos says he can share his gift with others through touch, holding out his hand. Rodney doesn’t want to take the hand, but John says “Well, you’re the skeptic,” so he finally does, reluctantly. (Love how John can usually get Rodney to do what he wants — lately with even a minimum of fuss!)
When Rodney closes his hand around Davos, he jerks with a gasp, getting a series of images of his team walking in the woods, then being surrounded by Wraith in some ruins. Shaken, he interprets it as them being captured. (For shame! As a scientist, he should know better than to assume he has all the variables and jump to conclusions. All he knows from the vision is that they get surrounded — he doesn’t know that they will be captured!)
In the conference room back in Atlantis, Sam tells Sheppard’s team about the report they got. Apparently the wraith who requested the meeting fit the description of the one John escaped from the Genii with (he has the same facial markings), and the place he wants to meet fits the description of Rodney’s (well, Davos’) vision. “So we’re believin’ this now?” Ronon asks; between this question and the expressions he’s worn this far, he seems as much a skeptic as McKay was. (Or maybe he’s willing to go with whatever the Tau’ri decide, if they would just make a decision already.) They in turn reveal that Davos is ill; she agrees to send Keller to help him. When they talk of meeting the Wraith, Woolsey chimes in (while reiterating that he is only there to observe), expressing his misgiving about trusting the Wraith, vision or no. (And really, I can’t blame him — when Atlantis put their trust in the hive that Michael belonged to, in the second-season finale, they were betrayed.) He says they’re walking deliberately into a trap. “Exactly,” Sheppard says. Poor Rodney has spent the entire discussion looking really uncomfortable with having to admit that he even saw a vision, much less that it may be right, and now they’re going to prove or disprove it in a way that could end up with them all dead!
On the planet, Rodney thinks that making the rendezvous is a bad idea. “You’re the one who said it’s impossible to see the future,” Ronon points out. (Well, that was before Rodney actually saw the future for himself, wasn’t it? If he refuses to accept Davos’s abilities now, then he has to doubt his own perceptions as well. Rodney’s a scientist, the kind who has to experience something firsthand in order to believe in it, and this time he has.) Rodney says he’s been thinking about it, and has realised that “quantum uncertainty doesn’t necessarily preclude the possibility of seeing probable futures.” (It took you that long to realise that, Rodney? And you call yourself a physicist! But making an extremely educated guess and actually seeing a vision of things one has never encountered before are two different things, so that’s not exactly a relevant argument here anyway …. I wonder — is Ronon annoyed because he doesn’t want to believe, and yet here the science guy is supporting the possibility? What is the typical Satedan reaction to then notion of prophecy? Wouldn’t it be cool if Ronon had once been given a prophecy that he doesn’t want to come to pass? I wish they would have focused a little more on his reactions in this episode.) Rodney compares the concept to card counting in a game of Blackjack, adding that their current scenario feels like hitting on an 18 — meaning their odds aren’t good, yet they’re (foolishly, to his mind) taking a gamble anyway — to which John counters that it’s more like doubling-down against a 10 — meaning the odds may seem like they’re in the opponent’s favour, but they know something that gives them an edge and makes it worth the risk to bet anyway. (I so love how those two are always having conversations that they “get” but leave poor Ronon and Teyla completely at a loss. It’s like they have their own secret language!)
They reach the place from Rodney’s vision and are surrounded. The Wraith leader, John’s “friend”, says they were supposed to come unarmed. John mock-apologises — and two jumpers de-cloak! So the vision played out as Rodney saw it, but there was a factor he didn’t see that made the end result very different from what he’d interpreted. (That’s the trouble with prophecy — they frequently have a different meaning than what they seem to. Well, at least it turned out well for our heroes. Usually in trying to avoid the outcome of a prophecy, people end up bringing it to pass, in which case it usually doesn’t end well — the irony in those situations being that, if they hadn’t known about the prophecy, none of what was prophecised would have actually happened. In this case, though, instead of fighting against it, they purposefully went along with it, finding a way to simply bend the interpretation to suit them.)
Sam checks in with Keller, who says Davos has lymphatic cancer and she can’t treat him there on the planet. Woolsey butts in, asking if she’s found anything in his physiology to explain his visions. (Well, at least he apologises for doing so.) Keller says she can’t tell without the equipment in Atlantis. Sam tells her to bring Davos there. Keller asks, in all seriousness and with no snark, but high certain level of discomfort, if they’re intending to be save the man or study him. Sam doesn’t answer, giving Woolsey a look that says he should be ashamed of himself (and at least he has the grace to look chastened).
Sheppard and Ronon confront the Wraith leader in the brig. The Wraith remarks on the lack of trust, to which Ronon points out that he tried to ambush them. he explains that he had no intention of hurting them but did not thing they would cooperate if he threw himself at their mercy. (Well, he’s probably not wrong — I’d wager that even without the vision they would have come prepared like that — but really, why should he have expected them to come unarmed then?) He adds that he was hoping to have the discussion on neutral ground. We see his face up close as the Wraith admits that he needs their help. (Ohmygoddes, it’s Halling!!! Er, Heyerdahl! Henceforth, though, I shall refer to this Wraith as Todd, as he was named — howevermuch in jest — by Stargate producer Joe Mallozzi). Todd points out that John worked with him once before; John replies that that doesn’t mean he wants to again. “You will,” Todd assures him. “Just what I need — more predictions,” John replies. (But the last one turned out pretty well for you, Johnny-boy!) Todd goes on to tell them about the Wraith fight with the Replicators, and how they have a weapon that should reprogramme their base code, but it’s not working. We already know this, so John tells him to get to the point. (I said it before and I’ll say it again: John has become an excellent tool for the writers in making exposition more palatable!) Todd says that they know McKay made changes to the base code — changes that (and this is important) allow the Replicators to alter their own programming. (Oooh, we didn’t know that his code would do that! It was just supposed to revert the Replicators to the original programme which, as far as we knew, just meant they would follow the directive to hunt and kill Wraith!) John points out that this, to the human, is a good thing. (And I’m sure he didn’t catch the “alter their own programming” bit, just that the Replicators are no longer affected by the Wraith code.) Todd says that the only think that because they don’t know about the Replicators’ new tactic for achieving their goal: kill the Wraith by killing their food supply, ie humans! (He seems genuine in his earnestness and, judging by how honestly and fairly he acted with John in “Common Ground”, I’m finding myself very willing to believe him.)
We see Sam asking John if he believes the Wraith, He says Todd gave them a gate address to check out, a place that was destroyed by the Replicators. Rodney confirms that they had been to that world before; it was a thriving industrial society. Sam tells him to send a MALP there. We watch as Rodney guides the MALP, Sam John, Ronon, Teyla, and Woolsey watching over his shoulder. The visual that comes back shows a devastated world; there are no life signs. Woolsey asks how they know the Wraith didn’t do it themselves. Obviously stricken, his voice faint, Rodney explains that the MALP is picking up signs of radiation consistent with Replicator weaponry. Teyla asks how many people had been there. Rodney unhappily reports somewhere between fifty and seventy-five thousand.
(Poor Rodney needs a hug! You know he’s blaming himself right now, since it was his reinstatement of the code that prompted the Asurans to consider this maneuver in the first place, as the most effective means of carrying out their anti-Wraith programming. I want to know how exactly this situation applies to what Todd was referring to about the Replicators being able to reprogramme themselves now, though. Is it just the fact that they were able to programme a new strategy? Or had it been actively against their programming to destroy humans before now? If it was, how were they able to attack Atlantis? Was it because those living in Atlantis attacked them first, and their programming allows them to go on the offensive against a threat? Forgive me if the answer has already been given in the series: I missed “The Return”.)
Keller uses a scanner on Davos, Linara asking about the machine and whether Keller will be able to cure him. (I wish our own cat-scan devices were so open-air!) Keller says she’ll do her best, but looks unhappy (not just because she doesn’t think she can help, I think, but because using the scanner is as much about studying him like a lab rat as it is about actually curing him — more so, even).
Davos apologises for his daughter’s questions, saying she is unused to uncertainty. (And wow, isn’t that a flaw in dealing with precognition I hadn’t considered — becoming so reliant on it that one can’t make one’s own decisions! I guess it’s a good thing that most people can’t see the future!) Keller says his gift is remarkable (and isn’t it interesting that a medical professional is so willing to accept it?). Davos says the downside to his gift is that he cannot see his own fate.
Rodney does indeed blame himself for their current problem, since he’s the one who reactivated the anti-Wraith programming. “It was my call, Rodney,” John points out. (I’m very glad to see John so willing to take responsibility here. And of course I’m appreciative of how he uses that fact in an effort to comfort Rodney! I love how soft-spoken and soothing he is throughout this scene …) “Yeah, but it was my idea,” Rodney argues, adding that they’d gotten what they’d gone to the Asuran homeworld, and could have just left, but he had to go and suggest they change the code too. (Oddly, I feel some relief here. I mean, given the episode descriptions I’d read before watching this ep, I’d feared that there would be an insinuation that Rodney’s saving Elizabeth was the “mistake” being referred to in said descriptions. Well, okay, I admit that it remains to be seen whether that was a mistake or not. Still, I’m relieved to find that, in this case, the only thing her nanites being brought online has to do with this situation is the fact that Rodney would never have been able to restore the Replicator basecode without her help, which she couldn’t have given if she were dead or didn’t have the nanites.) John gently insists that Rodney couldn’t have known that things would turn out like they did. (I want to hug John for being so understanding of that fact. A person could go crazy considering chain reactions at that level! “If only I hadn’t brushed my teeth this morning, then maybe I would have drunk that glass of orange juice I was offered right after, and then I wouldn’t have caught my co-worker’s cold later that day.” That sort of thing. One could even argue that if he had stuck with the piano instead of physics, none of this have happened either — and many people that he’s saved over the last few years have died. Maybe the Wraith would have even gotten to the Milky Way already without him on the expedition! …)
Rodney says that he always suspected that the Replicators were behind the aneurysm-causing nanovirus (”Hot Zone”, from the first season), insisting that they knew the Replicators hate humans, see humans as a mistake, and that he should have figured something like this would happen. (Actually, I have to agree with him there, but under the pressure he was under, I can’t fault him for not thinking of it at the time. It strikes me that writing code for the Asurans is a lot like writing a spell/saying a prayer/making a wish with a djinn — you have to be very careful in your wording to make sure you don’t invite trouble. “Ask your god to take away your pain, and they may answer your prayer by killing you in your sleep.” … Anyway, I guess this means there isn’t a directive saying they can’t harm humans a la Asimov’s Foundation trilogy. I suppose it’s too much to hope it will occur to Rodney to rewrite the base code so that the Replicators will hunt Wraith but never harm a human in doing so! I’d say to program them to protect and obey humans too, but there’s to much potential for trouble inherent in that ….)
Sam and Woolsey come into the conversation. Rodny gives them a run-down of the situation, how the Wraith want his help in fixing their code so that it works against the Replicators again; he’s pretty sure they could do it if he works with them. Woolsey is against the notion, given how their last so-called treaty with the Wraith turned out. “The circumstances have change,” Sam snaps, adding, “Amd what happened to non-interference?” “As you said, the circumstances have changed,” he replies. (I know it’s a serious situation, but that was funny!) Woolsey then turns to thery Wraith “expert”, John, and asks if the man thinks this is a good idea. “I think it’s not your call,” John responds in that wonderful, patronizing-yet-insubordinate drawl of his. Woolsey decides he needs to talk to his bosses and stalks off. Sam throws John a commiserating look, while Rodney looks miserable.
We get a gorgeous shot of the city at night, and it lingers a few moments more than such scenes usually do. (This makes me happy!)
John informs Sam that three more worlds have fallen to the Replicators, killing about a hundred and fifty thousand people. Sam remarks unhappily that this is just the beginning, that there’s no reason to think the Replicators are going to stop. She tells John that the IOA has taken Woolsey’s report “under advisement”. John’s derision for the IOA is clear as he says they will bicker about what to do, but in the end will leave Sam “holding the bag, just like they did with Elizabeth.” (Let’s just hope that they don’t come up with something specific that they want Sam to do first, then, that they let her make the final decision in their effort to shirk responsibility!) Sam remarks that she understands now why John didn’t want the job. (Nice call-back to their conversation in “Reunion”.) Sam then points out that Woolsey was right about John being the only one who might have an inkling as to whether or not they should try to work with the Wraith. John’s clearly not happy about being in this position, but Keller interrupts them before he can answer Sam, saying she need to see something.
When Sam gets to the infirmary, Keller informs her that Davos is getting worse, and that there’s nothing she can do for him: whether or not he lives is out of her hands. She then shows Sam his brain scan, comparing it to McKay’s when he was Ascending, saying it’s less extreme and not advancing, that he was born that way, a genetic fluke put him further along the evolutionary scale. Keller also repots that Woolsey has asked for copies of her findings. Like it or not, Sam says, Woolsey’s right about the info gained in studying the man being invaluable. (And, well, it’s not like it’s hurting him in any way, they’re just making the best use of a bad situation. Although it remains to be seen whether this situation will backfire on them, like in SG-1’s “Prototype”, where the alien human that he insisted they study — even after they learned the guy was progeny of Apophis — tried to kill them all.)
Davos awakens, and Sam introduces herself. Davos comments on the difficulties she must have in leading, adding that he knows what it’s like, having been a leader on his own world. She smiles, saying he had an advantage, to which he remarks that seeing the future isn’t as helpful as one might think. (Which I’ve already covered above, but it’s nice to see it addressed.) “But there is something you should see,” he adds, holding out his hand. Sam reluctantly takes it. She sees Atlantis being attacked by an Asuran ship, people inside running from falling debris, and the Control Tower being destroyed. “Oh my god!” Sam and I say at the same time. Davos apologises, and it’s clear he means it in an “I’m sorry for your loss” sort of way.
Aaaaand I’m going to end this review here, as it’s already pretty long and I’m only halfway through the episode! Since there’s no episode next week (thanks to the holiday), I’ll simply pick this episode back up next Monday instead. Then in two weeks, you’ll get the recap/review of “Miller’s Crossing”, the episode I’ve been dying to see for months now!
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Wolfen Moondaughter is on the editorial board for the comics industry webzine Sequential Tart for which she has written since late 2001. She’s also written for Newtype USA, contributed to Andy Mangel’s book Animation on DVD, self-published a novel (Memory of the Brightwing), and one of her short stories, “Chase”, is due to be published soon as the title story in an anthology from Wapshott Press (under the pen name Anastasia Witchazel). She’s an artist, too, having done spot illustrations for Dragonlance, a few panels for Barb Lien-Cooper’s webcomic series Gun Street Girl, and private commissions. In her spare time, she’s a fanficcer/fanartist. See more of her work at her site, Wolfen’s Webworld.
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